PLAN F(lorida)

POST # 418

MARY'S BEAUTIFUL GARDEN

Last month, my sister Rosie sent me an email with the title, "Plan B."  My response was that instead of that, I had a Plan F.   So, here we go with the story.

As mentioned a week ago, I have moved to a new location.  Plan F stands for Florida.  My dear friends Guy and Pauline needed a house/pet sitter for a couple of weeks, and in spite of the general concern regarding travel these days, it would have been very difficult for me to decline their offer.  I strongly suspect that this will be the very last time that I visit Florida, which means that this is probably the last opportunity that I will have to spend time with them.  It was an easy decision for me to make. We had a few precious days to visit, prior to their departure a couple of days ago, and now I am settling in with the two baby boneheads, Devo and Lilou.  When I call one or the other of them, I make the mistake of saying Dora instead of one of their names, but I guess that is to be expected, at least for a while.

After Mary dropped me off at the charter bus stop, I travelled to Sea-Tac airport in preparation for my flight later that same day.  I took a couple of photos there, and they certainly portray the world we live in right now.  Sea-Tac, was like a ghost town.  The only good thing about it was that going through security was a breeze.  It took less than five minutes, if that.  

GHOST TOWN OUTSIDE

GHOST TOWN GOING THROUGH SECURITY

My journey consisted of two separate flights.  The first was to Las Vegas of all places, and I decided to take a photo of one of the passengers.  Looks like he's resting up, prior to hitting the blackjack table.

SOCIAL DISTANCING?

This first leg was the shorter of the two flights, and I only had a 38 minute time span between my arrival in Las Vegas, and my departure to Orlando.  Ordinarily, that could have been a big problem, but McCarran airport in Vegas, was about as busy as Sea-Tac, so I had time to spare to make my connecting flight.  Flight number two was packed like a sardine can.  Without a doubt I was the oldest person on this flight.  The majority were probably between 25 and 40 years old.  In all my years of flying, I've never experienced that before.  It made me wonder if the younger generation seems to be less troubled by the pandemic, than the older folks?   I sat down, put in my ear plugs, closed my eyes, and tried to get a least a little bit of rest prior to my arrival in Orlando.

I landed at Orlando around 6:15am local time, and headed outside to the pre-arranged location that Guy had suggested.  After only a very short wait, they rolled up, and we were on our way to their house in Maitland.

Now, it's just me and the baby boneheads.  Guy and Pauline left me with plenty of food and drink, so I don't really need to leave this place at all, if I don't want to.  There is a bike that I can use, if I want to do some exploring around the area, but with temperatures into the 90's every day, and humidity in the 80's, I think I will be spending as much time indoors as I can.  You know it's hot outside, when the airconditioning unit in the house is set at 80F, and when you walk indoors, it feels nice and cool.  Yikes!!!

So I am now settled in, and I am enjoying spending time with Devo and Lilou.  They are both very low maintenance, so my job is easy.  I spend most of my time indoors because of the heat outside, but I do make an effort a few times each day, to go out back and have a soak in the swimming pool.  It offers a temporary relief from the weather.  Accompanied by a cool drink, it's not a bad place to spend a little time.

CORONA- THE BEER, NOT THE VIRUS

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer